Firefighters arrived to tackle the blaze a few minutes after the bus rescue. (Essex County Fire and Rescue)

(Newser)
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With fire racing through a third-story apartment in Braintree, England, and no firefighters in sight, death or serious injury appeared to be inevitable for a man trapped by the flames. Enter Andy Waterman, bus driver. Waterman was driving an out-of-service double-decker bus back to the depot when he was flagged down by a group of people seeking help, the BBC reports. Waterman drove up to the burning building to allow the man to jump onto the roof of his bus. "He had no other exit," Waterman tells the BBC. "The poor guy was in the shower—he was completely naked. It was freezing cold."

Waterman slowly drove a short distance away with the man still on the roof of the bus. Firefighters arrived with a ladder—and clothes—a few minutes later. "If the bus hadn't been there, I don't know how he would have escaped, the fall could easily have killed him. The bus driver's actions saved this man's life," a fire department spokesman said in a statement. "It's an unusual rescue, but it was extremely effective." Waterman, who will receive a commendation for his actions, says that in his eight years of driving buses, "nothing like this has happened before. I am just pleased the man is alive." The rescued man was treated for smoke inhalation, and the fire is being investigated as arson, reports the Telegraph.

He is very lucky - if this had happened in the US, the cops would have shot him for brandishing a pisstool and hijacking pubic transportation and then arrested him for indecent exposure, public lewdness, and signed him up as a sex offender for life.